State Department Issues Briefing on Rollout of Global Magnitsky Sanctions
MODERATOR: All right. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you, everyone. Good morning and thanks for joining us for today's background call on the rollout of the first iteration of the sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act. We are joined today by [Senior Administration Official One] as Senior Administration Official Number One; also, [Senior Administration Official Two] who will be referred to as Senior Administration Official Number Two; and finally, [Senior Administration Official Three] will be referred to as State Department[i] Official Number Three.
As a reminder, this background briefing is embargoed until the end of the call. With that, I'd be happy to turn it over to our officials for some opening remarks each, and then we'll take a few of your questions. We'll start with [Senior Administration Official One] and then hand it over to [Senior Administration Official Two]. Go right ahead.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Great. Thank you so much, and thank you very much, everybody, for joining the call this morning. As the [Moderator] had mentioned, today we would like to discuss the Trump administration's implementation of the 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which, as many of you know, was passed in December of 2016. We've worked very hard over the last year to establish this new program and look forward to discussing it with you today.
Today there have been three actions that have been taken: the first, there was an executive order signed by the President of
Very generally, I think we as an interagency over the last year have taken an expansive view of the implementation of the Global Magnitsky Act, engaging every diplomatic post and bureau here at the
Our objective was to leverage this new global tool to pursue tangible and significant consequences for the entire spectrum of those who commit human rights abuse and engage in corruption. We have sought to target those who will send a strong message to the international community and that
We continue to use this tool without hesitation to target the most egregious actors in every corner of the globe and look to today's actions to set the standard for the future.
The way that we'll do this is I'll pass the microphone over to [Senior Administration Official Three] and then from there we will pass things along to the
MODERATOR: Certainly. [Senior Administration Official Three], do you have anything you'd like to add to that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: Very briefly, I would just say that the actions taken today are very consistent with our longstanding approach to human rights abuses and corruption, namely, to hold accountable individuals who engage in such acts and to deter future such acts. And with that, I'll turn it over to our colleague in
MODERATOR: Okay,
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Thank you, and hi. I'm with the
The people targeted today are - include those responsible for a range of human rights abuses. For example,
We are also targeting the corrupt today. Today we sanctioned
In targeting these individuals today,
And with that, I'd like to turn it back to the moderator.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Anyone else have anything to add here? Okay, we'll open with our first question. And our first question is from - pardon me?
STAFF:
QUESTION: Hey, thanks very much.
MODERATOR:
QUESTION: Yeah, I'm here. Can you hear me?
MODERATOR: Yes. Go right ahead.
QUESTION: Thanks very much for holding the call, guys. I just wanted to ask about the Burmese sanctions. What kinds of conversations did you have with the civilian half of the government before the sanctions were announced today given the fragility of that partnership? And since this military commander is the only Burmese official, does the
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: This is [Senior Administration Official Three] from the
Sorry, your second question was what does this --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Well, in terms of - to get to your second question - in terms of future designations and where we go from here, I think what we have stated earlier is that the
MODERATOR: Okay. OFAC, do you have anything you would like to add to that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Nothing further. That covered it. Thanks.
MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you.
OPERATOR: And give me just one moment. Arshad, your line is open.
QUESTION: Thank you. Couple of quick questions, one kind of stupid. Has - I should know the answer to this, but have sanctions ever been previously imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act?
Second, the
And then, finally - and again, this I guess would be for the
MODERATOR:
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Thank you, Arshad. This is [Senior Administration Official Two] from OFAC. Senior - I think I'm Senior Administration Official Number Two for purposes of this call. So let me take your questions in turn, and then turn it over to my State colleagues for any elaboration.
First, is this the first time we've imposed sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act? Yes, indeed it is. These actions - this statute was enacted a year ago and this is - we have timed this with the delivery of our first Global Magnitsky Report to
Second, access to the international financial system. Yes, by virtue of the fact that OFAC sanctions not only block all assets under
Third, the language about being generally prohibited. Yes, that language is rather legal, and it is designed to acknowledge any licenses, whether specific or general, or exemptions that may apply in individual cases.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: That covers it from our perspective.
MODERATOR: Okay. Next question.
OPERATOR: And before I go to Alicia's line, I'll remind everybody else to please press * and then 1 to ask a question. And
QUESTION: Yes, thank you for holding the call. Just to piggyback off of the earlier question on the Burmese designation, could you go into more detail on why you chose this one individual? And again, do you believe other military officials are also responsible for the ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: [Senior Administration Official Three] again. So I think all we can say is that we determined that this individual was responsible for or oversaw human rights abuses as consistent with what the law requires. As [Senior Administration Official One] said earlier, we will continue to assess the evidence against other individuals and make determinations as appropriate based on that evidence. So I would not infer from this one designation that we're determining only that this individual is responsible, nor would I infer one way or the other what our future intended actions are.
MODERATOR: Okay. Anybody else have anything to add? Okay. Next question to
QUESTION: Hi. Thank you so much for the call this morning. I just wanted to ask kind of a more background question about the former Gambian president. I'm just curious - excuse me - if Jammeh's anti-LGBT record was a factor in today's - was a factor in today's designation. Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: I think what I would refer you is specifically what we've put into the press release. Obviously, the press release does not go into the full deliberation and legal determination that we do with the various packages and in the policy considerations, but I think that what we'll do is stick to what we actually say in the press release, unless
MODERATOR:
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: No thanks. Nothing else to - more to add to [Senior Administration Official One]'s comments. Our full basis for the action is outlined in our press release.
MODERATOR: Next question,
OPERATOR: And Luis, your line is open.
QUESTION: Yes, hi. Good morning. Thank you for this. I just want to clarify a previous answer. The official said that these designations today are for human rights abusers who are consistent with the - what the law requires. And I would like to ask some elaboration of what actually the law requires for a person to be designated. I see that in the case of (inaudible), multiple officials and businessmen from many countries in
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Sure. I would refer - Luis, I would refer you to the text of the Global Magnitsky Act, as well as the executive order that
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: And from our perspective, that's exactly right. And when it comes to any type of sanctions actions, what is specifically written in the legislation and the executive order drives what we are legally able to do. And so any of the designations that we make have to fit within that particular criteria.
MODERATOR: Okay. If I could just go back for one second,
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: And Michael, let me just add - [Senior Administration Official Three] here - that the designation of
MODERATOR: Okay. Next question, then.
OPERATOR: Comes from the line of
QUESTION: Hey, sorry, just one follow-up, again for the
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Thanks, Arshad. To - this is the
MODERATOR: Okay. Anyone have anything to add to that? Okay, then our final question goes to
QUESTION: Hey, good morning. Thanks for doing this. I noticed that there's a Russian on today's list, on the global list,
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: This is [Senior Administration Official Three]. The - we'll call it the regular Magnitsky act - does not cover acts of corruption, and the designation of the Russian today under Global Magnitsky is because it is for his involvement in acts of corruption.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: And just to add on that in terms of how we would do things in the future, we have two authorities, one specific to
MODERATOR: Right. Anybody else have anything to add? Okay, well thank you, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us for this call. The embargo has now been lifted. To our colleagues over at
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